The future of the criminal case against 26 Penn State fraternity brothers in the death of Timothy Piazza entered unknown territory Monday after the Attorney General's office announced it had taken over the case.

Newly-elected Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna asked the AG's office to take over the case last year before he took office, citing a conflict. The former private attorney beat Stacy Parks Miller in last year's district attorney's race.

While Cantorna has not publicly explained the conflict, his predecessor previously ripped the decision of her political opponent by saying he was "unwilling to make the tough choices."

Supporters of Cantorna, however, applauded his decision as highly ethical to avoid any appearance of a conflict.

The Attorney General's office evaluated Cantorna's explanation of a conflict before concluding it was legitimate and agreeing to take over the case.

Joe Grace, the spokesman for the office would not say exactly what the conflict was and Cantorna's office also did not return phone calls about the nature of the conflict.

Grace would only say that the attorney general's office planned to conduct a "complete and independent" review of the case.

Meanwhile, the criminal case will be on hold in Centre County Court until Attorney General Josh Shapiro announces his decision on how to move forward.

Shapiro could agree with the criminal charges recommended by Parks Miller's grand jury, scale the case up or down, or abandon the case altogether.

It was unclear how long the AG's review would take.

Piazza died Feb. 4, two days after falling down the stairs inside the Beta Theta Pi house amid an alcohol-fueled pledge party as he sought to join the fraternity.

Parks Miller announced the first round of criminal charges against 18 members of the now defunct Beta Theta Pi house last May.

Those members underwent seven days of preliminary hearings spread over three months before a judge tossed the most serious charges.

Parks Miller then sought to refile the involuntary manslaughter and other serious charges.

The newly recovered video showed that Timothy Piazza, 19, drank at least 18 drinks within one hour and 22 minutes in the basement, according to court records. He retrieved none of the drinks himself, Parks Miller said.

Piazza fell down the stairs within minutes of his final drink. His fraternity brothers did not call for help until nearly 12 hours later.

The case as handled by Parks Miller has been controversial, with some people cheering her aggressive stance against hazing of pledges and others criticizing the involuntary manslaughter charges as out of line for fraternity members providing booze at a party.

The Piazza family was upbeat about the transition in the case, according to a statement from their attorney, Thomas Kline.

"The Piazza family has full confidence in the Attorney General's office and looks forward to the continued prosecution of those who are responsible for the death of their son, Tim," the statement said.